by Mark Silva
"Friday marks President Obama's 200th day in office, and in most respects, his second hundred days as president have been worse than the first 100,'' says Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, in an Op-ed essay running at CNN.com.
Calling the Democratic president's first 200 days "a reckless experiment,'' the GOP chairman contends that the meaning of Obama's campaign promise of "change is becoming absolutely clear to Americans.''
The fierceness of the debate these days would tend to explain the findings of the Gallup Poll, released today, that "there has been a significant increase in the percentage of Americans who say the tone and level of civility between Republicans and Democrats in Washington have gotten worse since Barack Obama was elected president.''
That sentiment has risen from 24 percent in April to 35 percent in a mid-July survey.
"About one in five say things have improved in this area, a percentage that has been stable since Obama took office,'' Gallup notes.
"One of the central themes of the Obama candidacy was Obama's desire to bring a new style of governing to Washington, including fostering a greater sense of bipartisanship,'' Gallup's Jeffrey Jones writes. " In reality, that has not occurred, given nearly unanimous Republican opposition to most of Obama's and the congressional Democrats' policy initiatives -- in particular, the economic stimulus plan and healthcare reform.
"The public seems to have noticed, as more Americans perceive Democratic-Republican relations in Washington to be deteriorating than said so in the earlier months of the Obama presidency. The decline may also reflect a more general decline in confidence in Obama, as evidenced by the drop in his approval ratings from the mid-60s to the mid-50s in recent months.''
The latest Gallup daily tracking today puts Obama's job-approval at 56 percent. The findings above come from a Gallup/USA Today poll taken July 17-19.
The RNC chairman is engaging today:
"Obama and congressional Democrats are determined to conduct their reckless and costly liberal experiments on the American people without any regard to the consequences,'' Steele writes, citing the $787-billion economic stimulus, the "cap and trade'' energy bill that has cleared the House - "a huge national energy tax on every American family and business'' - and the healthcare reform that the president is promoting.
"Obama's third and final experiment of his first 200 days as president -- and arguably his most dangerous -- is the fundamental transformation of our health care system,;; the RNC chairman maintains. "The president claims that more government involvement in health care will promote competition. However, creating such a government-run entity would result in a massive government health care monopoly...
"Obama's first 200 days in office should be seen for exactly what they are: a clear indication of where he intends to direct America during his presidency,'' Steele writes. "It is a direction that places less emphasis on individual entrepreneurs and private creativity and instead places power in the hands of a massive federal bureaucracy... The president has done all this in just 200 days, and there are still more than 1,200 days left in his administration. That's a frightening thought.''
See Steele's full essay at CNN.com.









Comments
"Obama's 200 days: 'Reckless,' RNC says"
Yeah, Pres Obama started two wars (one of them a lie -Iraq- so he could feed tax payer money to his rich pals in the Military Industrial Complex) and he gave massive tax cuts to the Richest 2%, Big Corporations and Big Oil, while the economy tanked and the middle class and poor were left to foot the bill.....uh.......hmmm.....uh......wait a minute.......that was Republican Mouthbreathers Shrub Jr and Darth Cheney......nevermind.
Posted by: lil' davey | August 6, 2009 3:24 PM
The Thugs of Nope live in a fantasy land of denial and hate. They prove themselves each day to be nothing more than a bunch of sniveling, blubbering morons. People with half a brain can see right through their lying, hateful rhetoric. Teabagging-Birthers is what's left of the looney-tunes rightwing conservidiots. As far as the Gitmo problem, guess who created that one - Steele - it was the Thugs of Nope poster boy - GEORGE W. BUSH! The RNC represents what's left at the bottom of my cat's litter box.
Posted by: former Republican | August 6, 2009 3:42 PM
With each passing day, the GOP--headed by Chief Buffoon Michael Steele--proves its members to be senseless, illiterate lunatics. Desperate fools so detached from reality that their only base consists of toothless nutjobs who support the crazed beliefs of the Party.
Posted by: Diane | August 6, 2009 4:07 PM
HUH?!?! Steele is a clown.
My 401K TANKED UNDER BUSH
Bush DOUBLED OUR NATIONAL DEBT UNDER HIS 'REIGN OF ERROR'
Oh, did I mention that 9/11 happened under his watch ??
And THERE WERE NO WMDs in Iraq !!!
That's why the Republicans DON'T MENTION BUSH
Did you see Bush or Cheney CAMPAIGNING for any Republicans in the Special Elections ??
Gee, I wonder why ?
Will Bush/Cheney be active in the 2010 elections ?
What do you think ??
The Economy is starting to bottom out
Unenmployment is a TRAILING indicator
The Stock market is starting to recover from the Bush Recession !!
Ronald Reagan, George Bush and lil' W. Bush CREATED 90% OF AMERICA'S NATIONAL DEBT !!
90 PER CENT !!
Supply "the rich" Side Economics, huh ?? pleeeeease.
.
http://www.headybrew.net/images/content/budget_deficit_or_surplus.gif
Posted by: Nevermind | August 6, 2009 4:07 PM
Steele is a clumsy, clueless, blithering buffoon who possess very very few independent thoughts or ideas. He's a tool and if told to jump, he would reply "how high". If he wants to talk about experiments without regards for consequences and recklessness, he should enlighten us all about the illegitimate Bush administration.
Posted by: Doug R. | August 6, 2009 5:47 PM
Since Mark Silva mentions polls in the above article, it would be well to point out some poll results he doesn't mention. From realclearpolitics (a source Mr. Silva has often used), it turns out that many more people view Obama's presidency a "failure" than they did Bush's at a similar time in his administration:
"A rather surprising finding from the newly released CNN poll. Question three on the national survey of 1,136 adults (which includes an oversample of African-Americans) asks, "Do you consider the first six months of the Obama administration to be a success or a failure?"
Thirty-seven percent (37%) said they believe the Obama administration is a "failure," while 51% consider it a "success" and 11% say it's still "too soon to tell."
An identical question was asked of the Bush administration in an August 2001 CNN/Gallup/USA Today survey. At the time, 56% said the Bush administration was a "success" while only 32% considered it a "failure." (Link)"
Posted by: Bruce | August 6, 2009 6:08 PM
An identical question was asked of the Bush administration in an August 2001 CNN/Gallup/USA Today survey. At the time, 56% said the Bush administration was a "success" while only 32% considered it a "failure." (Link)"
Posted by: Bruce | August 6, 2009 6:08 PM
Well stated Bruce, but don't think the word "Failure" is in the Socialist Dictionary.
Posted by: Inky | August 6, 2009 7:51 PM
Reckless?
I don't know about that. Seems he hasn't started any vanity wars based on lies like GWB did.
Posted by: C.Morris✧ | August 6, 2009 8:18 PM
BLUEPRINT THAT TODAY'S REPUBLICAN PARTY IS FOLLOWING RELIGIOUSLY……
“Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. (...) All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed. (...) The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. The broad masses of the people are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. (...) The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth and falsehood.” – Adolph Hitler from Mein Kampf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_propaganda
Posted by: osage | August 6, 2009 8:34 PM
What the Hey!! RECKLESS?? And Michael Steele says "an experiment", to our quest for national health care, when every country on this planet except us has national health care?? THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ALWAYS DOES SOMETHING TO OUR COUNTRY, NEVER SOMETHING FOR OUR COUNTRY. HEY STEELE, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR @#%!!whiteagle38
Posted by: R Juneau | August 6, 2009 8:38 PM
Here are some other words to describe the Obimbo shaministration: Disastrous, shameful, criminal, crooked, horrifying, scary, frightening, inept, socialistic, dictatorial, deceptive, disingenuous, unAmerican.
Posted by: John D | August 6, 2009 9:09 PM
President Obama may fail over Health care, because the Democrat leadership of Sen Harry Reid, Speaker Pelosi added these services free-of-charge to the 20 million plus illegal immigrants and their families. The cost is trillions of dollars according to Robert Rector, top analyst of the Heritage Foundation. All these money will be further accentuated by the cornucopia of other welfare entitlements, that will keep attracting millions more illegal aliens. These mandatory federal laws are enforced on taxpayers by the IRS, which has drained state, county treasuries for absolute decades. America cannot have a government run health care system, until restrictions are placed on anybody who are unable to prove their citizenship status or residency. Like Europe, America has been invaded by mass hordes of legal and illegal immigrants, with consequences of a suffering government health care system.
Posted by: Brittancus | August 6, 2009 9:46 PM
"Here are some other words to describe the Obimbo shaministration: Disastrous, shameful, criminal, crooked, horrifying, scary, frightening, inept, socialistic, dictatorial, deceptive, disingenuous, unAmerican."
I think Obama is doing a great job! We will be out of the recession soon. . .and eat cake!
Posted by: HmongRodneyKing | August 7, 2009 12:35 AM
Party Gal Bruce,
Since early tenures are marked by what was inherited, comparing what W inherited to what Obama inherited is idiotic, even by your usual ridiculous standards.
Why no links to your polls, beancounter?
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport | August 7, 2009 8:13 AM
I have reported you all as being un-American to Flag@Whitehouse.Gov
Posted by: ObamaOrDie | August 7, 2009 8:50 AM
Here are some words to describe the tea-baggers, the birthers, the President Obama-haters, those silly Republicans that are sabotaging America's interests for their Party's:
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | August 7, 2009 8:58 AM
John D,
Back it up, gasbag.
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport | August 7, 2009 9:18 AM
A strategy memo which recently came to light, offering a guide on how to disrupt town halls, was from a web site sponsored by a group called Americans for Prosperity, headed by a former associate of Jack Abramoff, and FreedomWorks, a lobbying firm led by former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey.1 And a group called Conservatives for Patients' Rights is publicly claiming credit for helping to organize town hall outbursts
Posted by: West Hollywood Dissident | August 7, 2009 10:58 AM
Kenny Bunkedhead, it seems that whether the links showed up in Bruce's post or not, in his writing he still credits the source of the polls he cited. Sorry, if reality and the truth is such a bother to you. But then reality and the truth never were traits the Loons on the Left could ever understand or deal with anyway.
Posted by: John D | August 7, 2009 11:07 AM
Starting a war of choice that will cost us trillions was reckless.
.
Giving huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans in time of war was reckless.
.
Politicizing the EPA and letting Big Oil and Big Coal executives write energy policy was reckless.
.
Zealously promoting deregulation and self-policing of corporation and Wall Street was reckless.
.
Selecting the dimwit quitta from Wasilla was reckless... and Priceless!
No one screws the pooch like the Grand Old Pugs.
Posted by: Hopeless | August 7, 2009 12:37 PM
John D,
I called you out to back up the name-calling in YOUR post, but I guess your initial post was a hit and run. Or crawl...
You may want to actually read the more recent Silva post on "clean-up" and get back to considering what O inherited from W. Frightening....
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport | August 7, 2009 1:57 PM
John D.,
If you're going to make a fool of yourself, at least try and come up with some clever material.
Obimbo? Shaministration? Chicago Libune?
.
Is that the best you can do? Really, it's embarrassing J.D. Please hire Dennis Miller to give you some wing-nut material to work with.
.
And tell me, as the no. 1 apologist for George Jr., how can you make such charges of Obama? Maybe that was the humor your were shooting for:
Dubya's legacy
Inept: Iraq, Katrina, Economy
.
Dictorial: I'm the commander guy.
I've earned some political capital, I'm going to spend it.
Torture, rendition, illegal wiretaps
.
Deceptive: see above. Also cooked intelligence on Iraq, Phony claims of WMD, lies about readiness of Iraq military to assume control, lies about what he was told on Katrina. Witholding scientific data from EPA findings
So, Swamp Fool, tell us what evidence you have to back up your charges against Obama.
Posted by: Hopeless | August 7, 2009 3:56 PM
I'd like to see universal health care pass for American citizens. However, if that health care is offered to 20 million illegal aliens, it would be a reckless act on the part of Pelosi and Obama, and the health care bill should deserve to fail. I would never vote to reelect an incumbent who voted to give health care--a finite good-- to illegal aliens. Nancy and Barry seem to be choosing illegals' "rights" (???) over health care for American citizens. Illegals need to go home to their own country if they want rights. They walked in here. They know the way home and how to get there. I voted for Obama, yet if he is reckless in giving our health care away, he deserves to be voted out of office in 2012. Nancy needs to go right now. I don't want my mother (who worked, was born and lived in America for 70 yrs) not getting chemo because illegals need to have health care by law. Screw that.
Posted by: Vivian | August 7, 2009 11:57 PM
So we have all been transformed into a bunch of snivelling, backbiting, hatred loving idiots at the behest of the politicians and news media. Do you feel like a sucker yet? You should. Whether you know it or not, the problem isn't with you or me, it's with the politicians who know it's better to keep you hating and screaming than watching the man behind the curtain. Now we even have an official rat me out email where you can turn in your neighbor for thoughts and words that don't meet with the president's approval. How far we have come.
Posted by: Pirate Morgan | August 8, 2009 4:00 PM